Political Parties Flashcards
What are the main functions of political parties within a democratic system?
Representation Participation (encourage political participation) Recruiting office holders Formulating policy Providing government Educate the public
What legislation was passed in an attempt to make party funding a more democratic feature of the UK political system?
Blair- 2000 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act
- An independent electoral commission was set up to supervise party spending on election campaigns
- Capped to £30,000/ constituency
- Donations of more than £5000 nationally and £1000 to a constituency party must be declared and published
- Donations from individuals not on the electoral roll were banned
Arguments for state funding
Parties are important for representative democracy
Public funding would remove the great disparity in resources available to different sized parties
If state matched donations by party members it would encourage participation
Curb the possibly corrupt influence of private backers on party policy
Arguments against state funding
Greater regulation would be necessary, limiting the independence of parties
It is hard to decide how much support a party should have in order to qualify for funding
Public funding could isolate parties from the wishes of voters
What are some features of political parties?
- They are organised (hierarchical)
- Have policy and a programme (usually backed by an ideology)
- Larger parties seek to win gov. office
- Work to gain public support for their policies- media and grassroots
- They select candidates for election
- Have leaders to directly speak for the party
Define aggregation
Parties try and represent a range of interests in society to broaden their appeal and win elections eg 2019 Conservatives, 1 mill new homes
Give some examples of ‘single issue pressure parties’
Pro-life alliance
Brexit Party
Health Concern
What factors shape party systems?
Electoral systems (tactical voting, multi-party, 2 party system etc)
Voting behaviour
Party policies and new parties
Tradition (Lab v Con)
Constitutional framework (devolved elections, pluralism)
Events and circumstances (1979 Lab and economy, 2015 UKIP vote share increase)
List issues in the current UK party system
- Fragmentation of majority party discipline and devotions in Parliamentary parties since 2010 (Brexit, whips)
- New electoral systems (devolved powers)
- Declining voter loyalty (dealignment, class)
- Cross-cutting issues
- Major party polarisation (space in the middle ideologically)
- FPTP suggest two party, however London has multi-party and SNP dominates Scotland
- Long term decline of traditional major parties
- No longer open party system in the UK
Explain party system in the UK from 45-70s
Consensus
Shared ideas on the welfare state social reform, Keynesian economics, high public spending, education reform
Explain the party system in the UK from 70s-90s
Adversarial
Labour continued Keynesian economics
Con reduced public spending
Explain the party system used in the UK from 2005- 2015
New Consensus, included coalition, Big Tent politics, 2 1/2 party system
Lab- more central
Con- more central, middle class increased
Lib Dem- bridged gap
Explain the party system used in the UK from 2019 onwards
Adversarial, or becoming multi-party?
Labour (new Left and Future Britain), SNP, Lib Dems, Tory Independent Group, Conservatives (TRG and ERG), UKIP, Brexit party
What 5 factors suggest that there had been an increase in consensus politics up until 2015?
- Collapse of communists and socialist Govs. in 1990s
- Blair and New Labour
- Cameron’s Conservatism
- Clegg’s Liberalism
- The Coalition gov.
What could be used as evidence to suggest there is currently consensus?
Environmental policy Keeping the NHS Opposed to Scottish Independence British involvement in Afghanistan The need to reduce the huge government budget deficit
What could be used as evidence to suggest the UK is currently adversarial?
- Is NHS reform needed
- Crime and the way it is dealt with
- Restricting powers of Trade Unions (eg restricting strikes)
- Gov. controls on bankers bonuses
Describe left- wing ideology
- Collectivism
- Interests of wider community above individual
- Benefits should be free and universal
- A positive view on human nature
- Support equality of outcome, fraternity and freedom
Describe right-wing ideology
- Belief in the importance of the individual and individual choice
- Negative view on human nature, individuals are selfish
- Opposition to collectivism and ‘big gov.’
- Belief that individuals should be left alone to pursue their own life choices as far as possible
- The belief that inequality and diff. living standards can be positive forces, creating incentives for individuals
- Peace and security of the community is more important than the rights of individuals
Describe Conservatism
Pragmatic, opposed to radical change, prefer slow considered reform, pessimistic views on human nature
Pro-Union, Pro-monarchy
Against Lords and Electoral reform (against AV)
BoJo- 1 mill new homes
Cameron- Gay marriage
Suggest some Conservative positions and policies in recent years
British Bill of Rights
Green Conservatism
Decentralisation of power
Divisions over May’s dementia tax and right to buy
Give similar views held by the major parties in the 2017 General Election manifestos
Build at least 1 million new homes- Con and Lab
Lib Dems also wanted to majorly increase housing
Give strongly differing views held by the major parties in the
Con- pledge not to raise VAT, raise income tax threshold
